India v Australia T20 International

Shikhar Dhawan has burst onto the international stage. Source: AP/dailytelegraph.com.au

India and Australia meet in a one-off Twenty20 international at Rajkot on Thursday night, with the George Bailey’s side looking to make a good start to their tour of the sub-continent. With the Ashes against England starting in Brisbane less than three weeks after the 7th and final One Day International against India on November 2, several of Australia’s Test stars will be looking to find form in the shorter format.

Popular allrounder Yuvraj Singh returns to the Indian squad for the first time since January after a string of impressive performances for India A against West Indies A last month, while left arm paceman Jaydev Unadkat has also forced his way back into the national team through that series. With Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik all left out, Virat Kohli is expected to be Shikhar Dhawan's new opening partner. Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma should figure for the hosts after scoring plenty of runs at the Champions League Twenty20.

Six members of the Australian squad also had the benefit of playing in that tournament, with five of them lining up for their Indian Premier League franchises and Adam Voges turning out for the Perth Scorchers. Aaron Finch will be in the spotlight after his record breaking innings of 156 from just 63 deliveries against England at Southampton in August and is likely to be partnered by Shane Watson at the top of the order with David Warner dumped from the squad.

Australia has a good record against India in Twenty20 internationals, holding a 4-3 advantage over the 2007 world champions. India has just one victory from the past five short format meetings between the sides but tasted success on the one and only previous occasion that the pair did battle in India, way back in 2007.